Indians finish with long drive to down Trojans

MORRISTOWN — Dobyns-Bennett put together a “championship drive” to beat Morristown West 38-29 in a Region 1-6A football game and end a four-game skid Friday night at Burke-Toney Stadium.

Ahead 31-21 in the fourth quarter, the Indians marched down the field in 10 plays for 78 yards, taking valuable time off the clock and sealing the victory. Ian Hicks had the bulk of the carries before Tyler Tesnear and Phillip Armitage finished it off. Armitage took a fullback dive 1 yard for the score.

“It was a game of momentum. The momentum was on our side and then their side, so we had to fight like crazy to get it back,” D-B coach Joey Christian said. “On that drive, we wanted to bleed the clock down and that drive showed a lot of character on our kids’ part. They not only took time off the clock, but finished with the touchdown.”

It was assistant coach Ty Hayworth who called it a championship drive, according to Hicks, who ended with 38 carries for 246 yards and three touchdowns. The Indians (3-6 overall, 2-3 in Region 1-A) were eliminated from the playoffs by a Science Hill win over Jefferson County, but they had a goal of finishing the season strong.

“After that four-game losing streak with games we should have won, we just came out and played hard and left it all on the field tonight,” Hicks said. “Coach Hayworth called it a championship drive. Obviously, we’re not in the running to win the conference championship, but I truly believe that was a championship drive and I’m proud of everybody.”

D-B raced out to a 28-0 lead with the scoring opened on a 29-yard pass from Lendon Redwine to a wide-open Jordan Gonzalez in the end zone. Hicks added touchdown runs of 3 yards and 1 yard in the second quarter for a 21-0 halftime lead. Hicks’ third touchdown, a 5-yarder, put the Indians ahead 28-0 in the third quarter.

However, the Trojans (3-6, 1-4) came storming back, first with a 9-yard touchdown throw from Zack Young to Connor Patrick. Jaden Alderson converted a 28-yard field goal for D-B, only to see Young strike again with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Grant Misenheimer.

Misenheimer then made his presence felt on the defensive end, returning an interception of a Redwine pass 82 yards for a score.

D-B put together the fateful drive with the Trojans coming back to score the final touchdown on a 2-yard run by Young.

Redwine added balance to the Dobyns-Bennett offense, completing 12 of 20 passes for 169 yards, while the defense had several big stops in the first half and a fumble recovery by Jet Harris in the second.

Chase Jenkins had five catches for 69 yards and Charlie Browder hauled in three catches for 52 yards to lead the Indians in receiving.

“It was good to finally get this win,” Redwine said. “We came out balanced, running the ball and passing. We did a good job all night executing, other than getting a little sloppy at one point in the second half. We were able to spread it around a little bit.”